Burma went on the offensive yesterday against critics of its latest crackdown on democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying foreigners were meddling in its affairs and instigating unrest.
Aung Suu Kyi and other senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) have been padlocked inside their residences for four days after the military forcibly ended a nine-day roadside protest in the early hours of Saturday.
A military government statement accused the British ambassador, Mr John Jenkins, of overstepping "universal diplomatic norms" on Monday by trying to get into the house of Mr Tin Oo, the deputy chairman of Aung Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
"It is difficult to understand why a foreign ambassador was so adamant to intrude into the internal affairs of an independent and sovereign nation," it said.
The Burmese government has denied Aung Suu Kyi and senior colleagues are under house arrest, but has said they have been asked to stay at home while it investigates reports that some NLD members had been involved in "terrorist activity".
In a clear reference to the US and Britain, state-run newspapers yesterday quoted Myanmar's powerful head of military intelligence, Lieut-Gen Khin Nyunt, as saying "two big western countries" were meddling in Burma's affairs.
"Two big western countries are applying various means to interfere in and dominate the internal affairs of Myanmar [Burma] and destroy her relations with the international community," the papers quoted Lieut-Gen Khin as telling a meeting.
"They are trying to drag the Myanmar people into poverty and hardships and to cause unrest in the nation," he said.
The US and Britain have both strongly condemned Burma's ruling generals for their treatment of Aung Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders, and have demanded the lifting of restrictions placed on their movements.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has led the pro-democracy movement since 1988.